Chocolate Swiss Roll | Recipe

 

Soft and spongy, this swiss roll cake is a must if you like chocolate! I just love swiss rolls- there's something so mesmerising about that characteristic, hypnotic swirl of a swiss roll leaving you wanting to eat more and more! This is so delicious, but also so easy. The trick to a smooth swiss roll with no cracks is to ensure you do not use too high of a temperature to bake this, and also don't over bake it; doing so would result in a dry cake that will be fragile. Give this recipe a go!

Chocolate Swiss Roll Recipe                                                                                                  Recipe by iSaamuel 
Yields one 12" cake roll
 
INGREDIENTS;
3 egg yolks,
 20g of sugar,
15ml of vegetable oil,
10ml of milk,
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract,
15g of cocoa powder,
20g of all purpose flour,

3 egg whites,
30g of sugar
 
Whipped Cream filling  
200ml of whipping cream,
15g of sugar
 
Tip: Like with all recipes, make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature so that they combine well. (e.g the eggs won't separate with the butter and the batter won't split.)
 
METHOD;
1. Whisk egg yolks and sugar together until the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes homogenised.  
2. Whisk in the oil and milk briefly.
3. Add in the vanilla extract and cocoa powder. Mix until well combined.
4. Sift in the flour and whisk briefly until just mixed in; do not over-mix.  
5. In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the egg whites and sugar until stiff and glossy peaks form. This will take around 2-5 minutes depending on your mixer.
6. Loosen up the egg yolk mixture by whisking in 1/4 of the egg whites until the whole mixture is one even color.
7. Fold in another 1/4 of the egg whites gently using stroke-like 'figure 8' motions. Repeat for the rest of the egg whites making sure to maintain the air whipped into them.
8. Pour the batter into a 12" x 12" pan lined with parchment paper. Drop this pan on the table 2-3 times from 25cm above to release all the air bubbles.
9. Bake at 200c for 10 minutes only. Do not over-bake; keep a close eye on the cake while it's baking!
10. Remove cake. Flip the pan on a new sheet of parchment paper (dusted generously with cocoa powder to ensure that it does not stick) and peel off the one attached to the bake cake carefully- making sure you do not rip the corners off. Let it cool.
Drop the cake pan 2-3 times again at this point to prevent/minimise shrinkage.
11. Whip cream and sugar until soft peaks form. Add vanilla extract if desired.
12. Spread an even, but thin layer of cream on top of the whole sheet cake. Don't add too much cream towards the edges or  it may ooze out and look messy. Also, doing so might create pressure when rolling the cake, causing it to crack.
13. Slowly roll the cake using the parchment paper to help. Fold about 1 inch of the at the start and roll while peeling the paper behind. While doing this, make sure you keep your roll cake nice and tight.
Roll the cake by lifting the parchment paper vertically and letting the cake roll and glide to its own accord.
14. Refrigerate the cake for 3-5 hours (preferably overnight) so that the cream can set and that the cake itself will have a chance to retain its rigid rolled shape.
15. To serve, use a serrated knife to trim off the edge pieces. To cut the slices cleanly, take a cup of warm water and a clean cloth/paper kitchen towel, and wipe after each consequent slice.

While rolling the cake, if you are struggling, you may find using a rolling at the back of the cake helps. This means that you can roll while gently tightening the cake for a tight roll.

Enjoy!